Using AI tools in your business? Think about where your clients’ information ends up first

More and more of us are using AI tools to help with writing emails or tidying up notes. Before you paste in anything with a client’s name on it, though, it’s worth pausing for a minute.

UK GDPR still applies, whatever tool you’re using. If the information identifies a person, it’s personal data, and you’re still responsible for what happens to it.

So check what the tool actually does with what you type in. Some keep it. Some may use it to train their models. The free version often behaves differently to the paid one too, so don’t assume they work the same way. Where you can, swap names for something like “Client A”, and keep anything sensitive out altogether.

If AI is part of how you handle people’s data, your privacy notice needs to say so. Bigger uses might need a Data Protection Impact Assessment as well.

None of this is a reason to avoid AI. I use it most days myself. It’s just worth ten minutes before you start rather than after something goes wrong.

If you’re not sure where to start, send me a message.